Coshocton 4th-seeded in Steubenville sectional

Jan. 28, 2008

Written by

BRIAN GADD

Staff Writer

COSHOCTON - Coshocton's boys basketball team grabbed the No. 4 seed and will head to Steubenville's St. John's Arena to begin its tournament trail, along with two other East Central Ohio League foes as the Division II sectional drawing was held Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Wigwam will host the other area Division II sectional brackets, with four ECOL members joining five teams from the Muskingum Valley League and West Holmes to battle for two spots in the Steubenville district (See 1B).

The area's lone Division I school, Tri-Valley, will open tournament play as the No. 9 seed out of 42 teams, Feb. 13 at Centerburg High School, against No. 33 seed Marysville.

In Division III at Claymont High School, Ridgewood and a resurgent Newcomerstown squad are among the eight teams vying for two district berths, while Inter-Valley Conference second-place team Garaway claimed the top seed there.

In Division IV at New Philadelphia, Berlin Hiland (10-6, third in the IVC) grabbed the third-seed and IVC leader, 16-0 and state-ranked Malvern is the top seed.

DIVISION I

While the 15-1 and MVL-leading Scotties will have to take care of a 5-10 Marysville squad in their sectional opener, a second round matchup against a Reynoldsburg team they clipped 51-50 earlier this month could loom large.

The winners come back three days later for an 8 p.m. tip to decide a Columbus Fairgrounds district berth.

DIVISION II

The 9-6 Redskins, coming off a big league win over cross-county rival River View last Friday, took a first-round bye as the fourth-seed and will play their first sectional game Monday, Feb. 18, against the winner of East Liverpool (4-12) and Harrison Central (5-11).

The good news stops there, as a potential sectional semifinal matchup with top-seeded Dover, currently 13-2, could be in the offing.

Coshocton head coach Tom Hilgenberg said he felt his team would fall somewhere between the No. 3 to No. 6 seed, but noted that "we've got the No. 1 seed in our bracket."

"But in a way, we're excited about playing over there (in Steubenville). We played there in the district a couple of years ago, when our seniors were freshmen," Hilgenberg said. "It's a neutral court and once you get there anything can happen."

He admitted that the win over River View, and the five games remaining on the schedule, are key to building momentum heading into the tournament.

"We've kind of been on a skid," he said of his squad, which started the season 7-0 before losing six of seven games. "We couldn't hit the side of the ocean. When the shots aren't falling, it makes the other mistakes that much more glaring. But I think these next five games will allow us to right the ship. And when you get to the tournament, it's a one-game season."

The other ECOL member in the mix is New Philadelphia, sporting an 11-5 record and a win over Dover to its credit. The Quakers are the No. 2 seed and in the upper bracket.

Upper and lower bracket winners will come back for the district on the same floor, matching up with the lower and upper bracket winners from the Coshocton sectional, which includes West Holmes.

The Knights, a deceptive 9-7 at the draw, won't have their sectional opener until Saturday, Feb. 16 when they matchup with 2-14 River View.

A win puts them in a sectional co-championship on Saturday, Feb. 23. The other teams in West Holmes' part of the draw include MVL mates Morgan and John Glenn, who square off Tuesday Feb. 12 for a chance at No. 2 seed Maysville on Saturday, Feb. 16. One of those three teams would then play the winner of West Holmes/River View for a sectional co-championship.

DIVISION III

Ridgewood Head Coach Dave O'Hara hopes a recent setback to Newcomerstown will add fuel to his squad's fire as it enters the eight-team sectional at Claymont.

The Generals (4-11) claimed the No. 7 seed and will take on sixth-seeded Bellaire (6-10) at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 12.

"It's not the Bellaire of yesterday. Two of their wins are Edison Local, which had to forfeit all of its games. On paper, we've got a chance," O'Hara said. "I only start two seniors and I've moved the freshmen up to the jayvees. I've got a freshman I bring in for one of our seniors. We're building for the future."

O'Hara said due to an off-court issue, his players "went into a funk" and were outplayed by Newcomerstown recently, falling 54-34.

"They just outright beat us," he said.

But the tournament is a time for his players to rise to the occasion.

"These guys have been successful in football and baseball, but there's nothing like basketball that can excite an entire community. There's just something magic about basketball," O'Hara explained.

"I told the kids there are three things about playing in the tournament, there's offense (No. 1), defense (No. 2) and then there's rebounding, turnovers and foul shots (collectively, No. 3). If we can do two of those three things right, I'm not guaranteeing a win, but we've got a chance to be in the game."

Even if they get past the Big Reds, they would likely face top-seeded Garaway, as the 14-3 Pirates will play No. 8 Newcomerstown on Thursday, Feb. 14.

The winners of those matchups come back on Thursday, Feb. 21 for a berth in the New Philadelphia district.

"They've got two guards, they are as good a tandem as I've seen," O'Hara added. "And (guard) Tyler Gerber, you've got to keep him in mind when you are voting for the best players. He's tough and plays exceptionally well. He had 31 against Malvern (in a weekend loss) and scored 22 against Canton Timken, a Division I team."

Newcomerstown stands at 3-13 but has lost a handful of games by single digits, including two in overtime. The Trojans will get one more try at vaunted Garaway and Malvern in IVC play in the next two weeks.

DIVISION IV

Speaking of Malvern, the top seed at the Division IV New Philadelphia sectional will kickoff that tournament draw with a 1-8 matchup Thursday, Feb. 14 with Conotton Valley, which was 2-15 at the draw.

Berlin Hiland, at 10-6 and the No. 3 seed, will begin play in the lower bracket on Monday, Feb. 18 against No. 5 seed Strasburg (9-7).

A win there would put the Hawks in a sectional co-championship contest against the winner of No. 2 Wellsville (15-1 at the draw) and No. 4 seed Steubenville Central Catholic (10-5).